Saturday, August 27, 2016

CBS Fall Preview 50 years ago (1966)

Today, we're kicking off a 3-part series looking back at the fall television season of 1966. We'll be looking at ABC & NBC later on, but we'll start with CBS.

The network promised 8 new shows, but only previewed six of them. Host Garry Moore was reviving his variety show, but like fellow comedy icon Milton Berle over at ABC, Moore didn't survive the season, and would return a couple of years later fronting a syndicated revival of To Tell The Truth. Also missing from the video is Mission: Impossible, as the lone drama in this video is the short-lived Jericho.

The network expanded its movie schedule to 2 nights a week, and would find that the CBS Friday Night Movies would be an on-again, off-again staple well into the 70's.

The rest of the Class of '66:

It's About TimeRun, Buddy, RunFamily AffairThe Jean Arthur ShowPistols & Petticoats
In addition to Moore, Buddy and Jericho were also given quick hooks, and in Moore's case, he was replaced by the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Mr. Terrific would replace Buddy in the winter of '67.

Here we go:

We've yet to review The Jean Arthur Show, The Garry Moore Show, Mission: Impossible, & Jericho, but we'll get to them soon enough.